Aston Villa have long hankered for a return to European football and, at last, their craving has been satisfied. A bore draw against FH Hafnarfjördur barely raised a ripple of excitement at a subdued Villa Park last night, but their job in the Uefa Cup second qualifying round had as good as been completed in Iceland a fortnight earlier.

Villa will have to do better if they are pitted against one of the big boys of the competition. At present, a meeting with AC Milan does not bear contemplating. Still, they only have to think about a possible match-up with the Italian giants if they win their first-round tie and reach the group stage.

Having won the first leg 4-1 in Reykjavik two weeks ago, Villa were always on course to qualify for a first Uefa Cup campaign in seven years. Martin O’Neill, their manager, reacted accordingly, keeping many of his leading players on the bench - although not Gareth Barry - and had to settle for a decent display in the first half, but a disjointed effort thereafter.

“Job done? That’s exactly what it was,” O’Neill said. “I was hoping that we would pick up the tempo and sustain it for longer, but we got through. We could have played better, but we’re in the hat and that’s great. Our ambition now is to get through to the group stage and why not?

“I have to emphasise again how delighted I am that Gareth is staying. I am ecstatic but so is the dressing-room. It is a big lift for us. It feels like we have a new player. A few weeks ago, I thought Gareth would have gone by now.”

Villa had threatened to overrun Haf-narfjördur early on, with Craig Gardner, Wayne Routledge, Gareth Barry and Gardner again going close. Inevitably, the Icelandic dam broke, with Marlon Harewood escaping along the right flank and crossing for Gardner to billow the net with a precise finish.

Three minutes later, Hafnarfjördur equalised - not that it really mattered - when Brad Friedel failed to hold on to a cross from Matthias Gudmunds-son. Atli Bjornsson reacted quickest to the loose ball and drove in from close range.

There ended the action, the second period notable only for the visiting side’s limitless energy amid a lost cause. Villa may have a few more problems when Liverpool visit the same venue on Sunday.

Aston Villa (4-4-2): B Friedel 4 — C Gardner 7, C Davies 6, Z Knight 6, G Barry 5 — W Routledge 6, N Reo-Coker 5, M Salifou 5, I Osbourne 4 — M Harewood 4, G Agbonlahor 4 (sub: N Delfouneso, 62min 4). Substitutes not used: S Taylor, M Laursen, A Young, J Carew, S Petrov, N Baker. Booked: Harewood.

FH Hafnarfjördur (4-5-1): G Sigurdsson 6 — A Asgeirsson 6, D Siim 5, T Nielsen 6, H Valgardsson 7 — M Gudmundsson 6, Bjorn Sverrisson 6 (sub: J Gardarsson, 85), D Vidarsson 5, M Vilhjalmsson 5, T Gudmundsson 6 (sub: G Saevarsson, 83) — A Bjornsson 7 (sub: A Gudnason, 58 6). Substitutes not used: D Larusson, H Eiriksson, F Bjarnason, Birkir Sverrisson. Booked:Valgardsson.

Referee: B Kuipers (Netherlands).